Elementals - Frozen AU
by Susan Popplewell
Summary: It's been law ever since King Runeard's reign that any Elementals - people with powers - are to be either killed or arrested, depending on their powers. Elsa Árnadalr stays low, trying to avoid being arrested or killed. That is, until she accidentally reveals her powers. She now has all of Arendelle and a paid assassin after her as she tries to survive and save the Elementals.
1. Chapter 1

_**I do not own Frozen or any of its characters or anything related to Disney. But I do own Stillclaw and any other OCs except for Jyoti, who belongs to **__**Jetstream Artorias and who gave me permission to use Jyoti (but will not appear in this particular chapter).**_

_**In this story, I will sometimes have the characters speak a foreign language and will put the english translation on the next line in italics. In this chapter they are speaking Swedish. Don't worry – I will in general have the main characters speak English.**_

* * *

_1836_

He pushed the drink over to the visitor and studied the visitor carefully, gauging him. The visitor's head didn't even move. He couldn't tell if he had even glanced at the drink as his face was completely shrouded in darkness by the dark grey cowl he had covering his head.

Not even the lantern hanging above managed to cast any light on the visitor's face.

It was then that he remembered how the visitor had very deliberately chosen that spot.

Now he knew the reason why.

_He's a cautious man_, he thought to himself, leaning back into his chair as he formed a steeple in the air with his fingers and rested it against his lips.

''Väl?'' he prompted the visitor, nodding slightly towards the offered drink. ''är du säkert törstig?''

_Well?_ _Surely you're thirsty?_

Suddenly, one of the shutters blew up and wind and rain screeched as it entered the room. The lantern hanging on a hook in the ceiling started swinging around. He sprang to his feet and shut the shutters, placing a board infront to keep it shut and locked. He turned around and saw that the visitor's cowl was now facing towards him, indicating that the visitor had turned it's head. The sight of the cowl facing him with nothing but seeming darkness within made his skin curl.

The man then pushed his chair back and stood up.

He swallowed slightly as the visitor towered over him.

''Det kommer bli klart,'' the visitor replied and simply turned around and exited the room without even a backwards glance.

_It will be done_.

Once the door shut behind the visitor, he immediately turned and went to a door behind his seat. Grabbing the handle, he tried to turn it, but his hands were shaking so much that he lost his grip. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he gripped the handle with both hands and yanked it open, not giving himself a chance to lose his grip a second time.

The two men behind it jumped up in surprise. One had an eye patch and the two ends of a scar stuck out both ends of the eye patch. The other had four fingers on each hand, having stumps where his fifth fingers used to be.

''Följ honom,'' was all he said. ''Se till att han gör jobbet. Bli av med honom.''

_Follow him. Make sure he does the job. Then get rid of him_.

He then shut the door and sat back down in his chair, trembling. _What kind of mercenary did my men bring to my doorstep? _The visitor was intimidating; but that was a good sign – meant that he was capable of getting the job done.

But also meant that he'd be hard to keep in line.

* * *

The visitor brushed past the two men standing by the front door and tried to turn the handle.

Locked.

Without bothering to look at them, he merely held out his hand to the nearest person. "Nycklar," was all he said.

_Keys_.

He felt the cool metal of the ring of keys being placed in his hand. Judging by how much jingling the keys were making, the man was shaking.

He didn't pay too much attention to that and unlocked the ornate oak door and pushed it open. Wind and rain slapped his face and there was a _clap _of thunder. _Good_, he thought. _It'll make my job so much easier_.

He strode out the building, throwing the keys back without a glance and went down the marble front steps. Weaving his way through the trimmed hedges decorating the front yard, the visitor strode towards the gates and pushed them open. Exiting the property, he shut the gates and crossed the street.

Hearing the _clop-clop _of horses coming closer, he looked over his shoulder and saw a silhouette of a person huddled over in a buckboard.

And that person was alone.

He pulled his cloak closer to his body and stooped forward, making sure the tattered edges of his cloak were visible as he stumbled forward onto the road. His breathing became hoarse and heavy as his feet shot out from underneath him and he fell face first into the muddy road.

He heard a 'woah!' and soon heard a "Herr! Herr!" as someone came running towards him.

_Sir! Sir!_

He rolled onto his back, clutching his stomach as he groaned. The person who had called out to him knelt down beside him, and he recognized him as the one on the buckboard._ Just as I hoped_. "Herr, är du okej?"

_Sir, are you alright?_

He pushed himself into a sitting position. "Ja," he said, gritting his teeth. "Bara gled."

_Yeah. Just slipped_.

"Herr, det regnar," the driver said, helping the mercenary up. "Jag ska ge dig en tur."

_Sir, it's raining. I'll give you a ride_.

The mercenary breathed a sigh of relief. "Tack," he said as the driver helped him over to the buckboard and they both climbed in.

_Thank you_.

The driver nodded. The mercenary heard a gate _creak _open. Judging from the angle the sound came from, it was coming from the property belonging to the man who had just hired him. He surreptitiously glanced over there and thought he saw two shadows slip out of the gates.

_Just as I thought_.

"Ta mig till puben, snälla," he requested, turning to the driver.

_Take me to the pub, please_.

The driver nodded and urged the horses onward. "Vad heter du?" the driver asked.

_What's your name?_

The mercenary stayed silent for a moment. He figured he might as well give the man a name. Still, he kept his voice low so that only the driver could hear. "Stillclaw," he answered. "Mitt namn är Stillclaw."

_Stillclaw. My name is Stillclaw_.

* * *

_**Half an hour later...**_

The man who had hired Stillclaw looked up from his dinner when he heard a knock on the front door. He reached for a glass of wine and turned to his butler. "Vem är det?" he asked.

_Who is it?_

"Jag är säker på att jag inte vet det, sir," the butler replied.

_I'm sure I don't know, sir_.

He heard confused voices and a dragging noise. Wiping his mouth with his napkin, he pushed his chair back and stood up, pulling his Colt revolver out of his holster and aiming it at the dining room's door.

The door _creaked _open and it came..._the mercenary_.

_Already?_

* * *

Stillclaw dragged the large canvas bag into the dining room and dumped it next to his temporary bosses' chair. Water was dripping off of his cloak and onto the floor. He simply stared straight back at the man, who's eyes kept darting between him and the canvas bag.

"Vad är det?" the man asked.

_What's that?_

"Ditt mål," Stillclaw answered.

_Your target_.

The man appraised him for a moment. Stillclaw figured that he was probably thinking on how quickly he completed the job or the fact that he was still alive, when the man turned to another man in the room – Stillclaw realized that the man was probably a butler – and the man came forward and peeked inside the bag and then shut it again. The butler nodded towards the man, who then lowered his gun.

"Butleren får nu din lön," the man said.

_The butler will now get your pay_.

The butler quickly left the room and then a minute later came bag with a small pouch that jingled when he threw it at Stillclaw. Stillclaw caught it and opened it. _Yep. Exactly the amount agreed on_. Stillclaw then gave a small nod to the man in thanks and tied the pouch to his belt. With a final nod, he turned and left the room.

_Interesting that he didn't seem that surprised by the fact that his men didn't show up_. Which confirmed his theory that they were sent after him as an experiment – to test to see how good he was.

As he exited the property, he unclipped his hand-held mirror from his belt and looked at it. "Show me them," he whispered in English. The mirror, which was in tune with his thoughts, flashed through several faces, the glass shimmering as it did so until it showed the man he had done the assignment for looking up, his eyes staring straight at the mirror as Stillclaw was seeing it through the butler's eyes.

"_Ta ut vinet, Filip" _the man ordered.

_Get out the wine, Filip_.

Stillclaw mentally shrugged, satisfied, and clipped the mirror back onto his belt. To anyone else, it would have simply appeared like he was checking his appearance. Stillclaw had used the mirror to study the man and his men after he overheard them (also through the mirror) searching for a 'mercenary'. He knew that after a job was completed – successfully – the man would celebrate with drinking. And he had a specific batch just for such an occasion and _only _for such an occasion. So, before his appointment to meet the man, he had snuck into the property and spiked all the cases of that specific wine.

In about ten minutes, they'd all be dead.

Same as those two men who had been sent after him.

_Life was good_.

* * *

_**So, if anyone is wondering where Elsa and Anna are, they're going to appear in the next chapter.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Thank you to everyone who has followed this story and read this story so far! This chapter will introduce Elsa and Anna, but remember this is an Alternate Universe, so not everything will be strictly canon.**_

_**Also, please check out my other Frozen fanfic - **_**Reborn_.  
_**

_**Anyway, enjoy!**_

* * *

_1836_

_**Arendelle Kingdom**_

"Elsa!"

Eighteen-year-old Elsa Árnadalr looked up from the pot that she was scrubbing with a questioning look. Her boss struggled to squeeze through the door. "Argh! Confounded doorway," the boss, Aslaug, muttered and let loose a large string of curse words that Elsa didn't dare repeat.

Elsa and one of her co-workers, Honeymaren, both quietly giggled at the sight. Aslaug burst through with a satisfied grunt and went over to Elsa, who immediately straightened. "Yes, Ma'am?" Elsa asked politely, folding her hands infront of her.

"Once you've finished with the dishes, you and Honeymaren need to go and empty out the trash and then scrub the floors," Aslaug ordered.

Elsa nodded. "Yes, Ma'am," she and Honeymaren acknowledged in unison and Elsa continued scrubbing the pot.

"Oh! And the toilets!" Aslaug added before charging over to one of the other workers, screaming at them about something. As soon as she was out of earshot, Elsa let out a sigh and handed the pot over to Honeymaren, who began to dry it.

"I think she hates us," Honeymaren remarked.

Elsa rolled her eyes, though she knew that Honeymaren was simply trying to cheer her up. "Really? I had no idea."

"I mean, there are plenty of other workers who could do all that," Honeymaren continued. "But she gets us to."

"I know," Elsa said simply as she began scrubbing one of the wine glasses. "But, you know that she has her favourites that she likes to pick on."

Honeymaren sighed and took the wine glass that Elsa handed to her. "I wish we didn't have to do this job," she sighed, putting the wine glass down on a nearby tray and sat down on a nearby table as she waited for Elsa to hand her some more dishes.

Elsa gave her a sympathetic smile. She had been working this job for two years while Honeymaren had only started two weeks ago. _Me, too_, she thought. "This is the highest-paying job there is in Arendelle and we need the money to pay the landlord when he comes every six months," Elsa replied, drying her hands on a nearby towel and straightening her apron. _Not to mention all the other bills and things in the house that need fixing that Father left us with when he passed away_, Elsa reminded herself. But, with all the bills and the landlord that they needed to pay off, they barely had enough for food each night, let alone trying to repair the house.

"It's not _the _highest paying job in Arendelle," Honeymaren pointed out. Elsa let out another sigh, albeit a sad one, and turned away, heading towards the trash. _Why does she always have to bring it up? _"There's the Arendellian Infantry," Honeymaren continued, following after her sister. "It pays _much _more than _this_," and Honeymaren gestured around the place, finally catching up to Elsa and they both began taking out the bags of food scrapes. "And they allow women."

"I can't," Elsa said, chucking the food scrapes out to the pigs in the backyard of Aslaug's Cafe. "And you know why," she added, keeping her voice down so that only Honeymaren could hear her.

"Yeah," Honeymaren sighed, chucking her lot out to the pigs and they both stood there silently, watching the pigs scoff up the garbage.

_You know, I envy them_, Elsa thought. _They get enough to eat _every. Single. Day_._ _And look at us. Look at Mother. She's sick and we can't afford to buy her any medicine_.

Elsa managed to keep her temperature down with the ice that she could create, but it wasn't enough. Their mother needed medicine, but all the money they had _had _to go to the bills _and_ they needed to save up for the landlord, otherwise they'd be living on the streets and then they would have absolutely no way of taking care of their mother.

_And if anyone finds out that I'm an Elemental, I'll be either killed or be given life imprisonment while Mother and Honeymaren will be forced out onto the streets and be beaten and attacked by everyone_.

She had seen it happen before. A boy – around thirteen – could summon lightning. One day, two months back, he was almost run over by a passing carriage and, in the heat of the moment, he panicked and accidentally struck the driver, the horses, and the passengers in the carriage with lightning, frying them all instantly.

He had been immediately shot by the Arendellian Infantry.

His parents and siblings were kicked out of their homes, onto the streets. People beat them, threw rocks, and one night, killed them in their sleep.

_Which is why I can't join the Infantry_, Elsa thought. _I can't risk being found out. I can't risk that happening to my family_.

She felt someone squeeze her hand gently.

_Honeymaren_.

Elsa squeezed her hand back. Honeymaren gave her a warm smile.

"Let's get back before Aslaug realizes that we're not there," Honeymaren said. Elsa gave her a quick hug.

"Love you, sis," she whispered in Honeymaren's ear.

Honeymaren chuckled. "Love you too," she replied.

* * *

"Uh...Chair! Wine! Tree...baby?"

Queen Rita chuckled as Princess Anna, heir apparent, looked at her in confusion. "Yes, it's baby," she said, leaning down and fondly kissing her on the head. Anna smiled warmly at her. "It's your turn, dear," she said.

Anna's eyes glittered with excitement and stood up, stretching her muscles. The palace overseer, Kai, came forward and handed her a list. Anna quickly scanned it and handed it back. "Okay, this will be a cinch," she remarked.

Just before she could start, the doors burst open and in came Runeard, the King of Arendelle. Anna cowered slightly and involuntarily took a step back. "Hello," she said sheepishly.

"Anna," he thundered, making his way over to her. "Just what do you think you're doing?! Mrs. Bjorge tells me that you didn't show up for lessons this morning and _this _is what you're doing!?"

"Runeard!" Rita said sharply, standing up. "She's a _child! _She needs to take a break from learning to take over from you and all that other education you've been giving her!"

"She's fifteen. She's old enough to start committing to her duty as Heir Apparent," Runeard replied tersely. "Come, Anna," he said, grabbing her arm, and leading her back to her room. "And this time, _stay and do _your lessons."

"Yes, Grandfather," she sighed as she entered her room where an very livid Mrs. Bjorge was waiting. She swallowed and sat down at her desk.

"For this, you shall work through lunch, no breaks," Mrs. Bjorge stated. "Now let's do you're History, shall we?"


	3. Chapter 3

_**Thank you to High King Peter the Magnificen for reviewing! It has been brought to my attention that this story is quite a bit like X-Men, and I'd like to state for the record that that similarity was completely unintentional. I have never seen any of the X-Men movies nor read any of the comics.**_

_**BTW, I have also posted the next chapter of **_**Reborn**_**! If you like this story, I think you'll like **_**Reborn**_**.**_

_**Thank you, silent readers, and my new followers.**_

_**Anyway, enjoy!**_

* * *

_Two weeks later..._

_**Arendelle Kingdom**_

Stillclaw looked up at the name of the place. _Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna_, he thought. _A bit long-winded, but a sauna sounds perfect right now_.

He walked up the steps and pushed open the door, a bell jingling as he did. A largish man with orange hair and sideburns looked up at him and gave him a welcoming smile. "Hoo-hoo! Big summer blowout!"

* * *

_**Arendelle's Castle**_

Anna snorted as her eyes opened blearily. She heard someone calling her name from just outside her bedroom door. Judging from the tone of voice, they had been calling her for quite a while. "Yeah, yeah, Kai," she replied groggily. "I'll be up in a minute," she yawned, stretching her limbs.

"_Now_, young lady!"

_Oh, shit, it's Grandfather_, she realized, and literally leapt out of bed and skidded over to her closet. "On my way!" she called back.

"We have visitors. From the Southern Isles," her grandfather informed her. "It's ten o'clock. You have ten minutes."

She let out a sigh as she heard his footsteps recede. _Well, I suppose I might as well get on with it_.

* * *

Oaken was curious about the strange man that strode into his trading post earlier. He was silent and had an intent gaze, but also listened carefully to everything he said, though it struck Oaken like he was analyzing the words used, how often you used a particular word, every lilt of your voice, like he was searching. _Searching for what?_

The stranger's skin was the colour of dark brown coffee and he had hazel-brown eyes. He couldn't tell what colour of his hair was – if he had any – as he had a dark grey cowl over his head and he hadn't given any indication that he was going to take it off. He was rather tall – over six feet as far as Oaken could tell – and he looked like he worked out regularly. The man had a dark grey piece of cloth covering the lower half of his face and a matching coloured cloak that was badly tattered at the edges and brown leather hunting boots and black finger-less gloves.

_Could he be a hunter?_

But there was no sign of any weapons on his person except for the mirror that was clipped to his belt which, well...wasn't a weapon.

_Odd man_.

"Food supplies?"

Oaken jumped slightly at the sudden sound. "W-what?" he repeated, realising that the customer had spoken.

"What are your food supplies?"

Oh. "I have a quart of Lutefisk," and Oaken picked up the jar and put it up on the counter to show the customer. "And chocolates and sweets on that shelf right behind you," and he pointed to the said shelf, but the man didn't even turn to look, keeping his eyes locked onto his face. Oaken was puzzled, but then realized that this man must have already seen them.

"Loaves of bread? Butter? Cheese? Tomatoes? Bread rolls? Meat? Vegetables? Fruit?" the stranger prodded.

Oaken shook his head. "No. If that is what you are after, you will find them sold in Arendelle."

The man stood there silently, his eyes staring intently at him, causing Oaken to struggle not to squirm and scratch behind his ear. It was like he was weighing whether or not Oaken's information was correct or not; or he was simply weighing his options.

"I'll take the Lutefisk," the stranger stated, the sudden break in silence jarring Oaken. Oaken pushed it towards him without a word and the stranger came over and pulled out a pouch. Judging by the jingling sound, it was a money pouch. He told him the price and the stranger simply opened the pouch and fished out the exact amount and put it on the counter for Oaken to take and then shut the pouch and tied it onto his belt, next to the mirror.

"Nearest place that I can rent a horse?" the stranger asked. The way he spoke was odd – it was abrupt; he kept his sentences short and sweet, avoiding using as many words as he could.

"Arendelle," Oaken replied.

The stranger simply nodded briskly. The bell above the door jingled and Oaken turned to see three men, who looked like weary travelers came in. "Hoo-hoo! Big summer blowout!"

It was then that he realized that the other man who had taken the Lutefisk had disappeared.

* * *

After exiting Oaken's Trading Post, Stillclaw glanced over to the four horses tied to the railing around the front porch of the Trading Post. _Must belong to the three visitors inside_, he realized. While three were clearly riding horses, the fourth was a pack horse and it was laden with bags and boxes. _Must be on a long trip, or they're delivering supplies to someone – like a shop_.

Glancing back at the shop, he then walked casually by the horses and briefly lifted the flap of one of the sacks on the side of the horses and peered inside.

Grain.

The other sack had food.

Knowing he couldn't stick around too much longer, Stillclaw silently went to the tree-line and picked a tree a good distance from the Trading Post, but close enough to keep an eye on the comings and goings and to hear what people were talking about as they either left or entered. No-one would notice him cause the shadows absorbed him as soon as he sat down in a particular perch high up in the Oak tree.

The three men in there smelled off to him. And he wanted to know what they planned to do. When they exited the place, they would probably make a remark about what they were doing, revealing their true nature – people always did when they believe no-one's watching.

Sitting perfectly still, the only part of him that moved was his eyes as he swept his surroundings with his analyzing gaze.

Hearing the door bell jingling, his eyes cut to the door without moving his head and watched as the three travellers, delivery men, merchants or whatever they were descending the porch's steps and climbed onto their horses.

"Where to now?" one of the asked, who had climbed onto the middle horse.

"Arendelle. Aslaug needs her supplies," another one answered and leaned sideways, grabbing the reigns of the pack horse and pulling it along as the three men began heading out, keeping to a steady walk.

_Aslaug?_

Stillclaw climbed down the tree, keeping directly inside each of the shadows at all times. Reaching the ground, he stood there for a moment, watching the movement of the shadows and their placement and calculating the distance between them, and the movement of the clouds.

Memorizing in a few seconds, he began tagging the three men, keeping a distance between them and him to prevent them from gaining any suspicion that they were being followed.

Something was up, and he was determined to find out what.

* * *

_**Arendelle's Castle**_

The guards pushed open the doors and Anna was ushered inside. She saw her grandparents and the Southern Isles guest standing around, quietly making idle chit-chat. _Probably while waiting for me_, she thought to herself. But she gotten herself dressed, did her hair and everything in nine minutes flat, so, you know. New record.

Rita caught sight of her and gave her a worried look before quickly changing it to a smile. "Ah, Anna! That's a lovely outfit you've got on," Rita complimented, probably trying to defuse the situation.

Anna chuckled self-consciously and her eyes dipped down to her dress, her left hand beginning to rub her neck, a little tick of hers that she automatically did when nervous. Her hair was done in a bun at the back with three ribbons – one green, two yellow – hanging out of the back of it and she had some of her hair at the front done in one braid that went across the top of her head.

She was also wearing a short-sleeved dress with the top of the upper half of the dress was yellow, but from the top of her chest area down to the bottom of the upper half of the dress was black and the lower skirt area was a light blue with flowers decorating the skirt's fringe. She was also wearing a brooch where the neck and chest met, which belonged to her mother.

"Her Majesty's correct," a new voice spoke, and Anna raised her eyes and saw the Southern Isle's king Mathias smiling at her. "You are very beautiful, Your Highness."

Anna blushed. "Thank you, Your Majesty," and she curtsied.

Mathias bowed slightly. "You two must be proud," he said, turning to Runeard and Rita, "to have such a beautiful granddaughter and heir, no less."

Runeard nodded and smiled, while Rita motioned for Anna to come over and stand beside them, putting her arm over Anna's shoulder when she did. "We are. Very much. We're proud with the progress she's making to take over from her grandfather," Rita praised, causing Anna to inwardly sigh sadly and she surreptitiously glanced over to her grandfather, who's face looked pained.

That was noticed by Mathias, who interpreted it as pain over Anna's deceased parents. "It's tragic that Agnarr and Iduna are no longer here," Mathias remarked. "But, I'm sure that Her Highness Princess Anna will no doubt be every bit as wonderful a ruler as her father promised to be."

Runeard coughed and nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. Now, shall we discuss that expansion of the trade between our two countries that you wanted to talk about...?"

* * *

_**Hope you enjoyed that and note: I won't be able to update for the rest of the week.**_

_**Have a great day/night!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hey everybody, I'm back! Sorry for not being around for several days – I was on a trip out of town and absolutely LOVED every second of it! But, I'm back now (as you can see) and just want to say thank you to everyone who has read this story and followed and reviewed – it really means a lot. Now, to respond to some of the reviews:**_

_**Rock Mint Swirl 22:**__** Thank you! I'm glad that you are enjoying this! I know I answered your questions in a PM, but I'm answering them again here for the benefit of anyone else who is wondering the same things. 'Mathias' is Hans' father (which everyone probably guessed from him being King of the Southern Isles) and the name 'Mathias' I made up as I couldn't find anything anywhere naming Hans' parents.**_

_**Guest:**__** Runeard's a B-word, isn't he? And if you were King Runeard, no, you wouldn't as...well, watch Frozen 2 to find that out. And I'm sure as hell hope he gets what he deserves as well **_

_**On with the story!**_

* * *

_**Arendelle**_

The men led Stillclaw to Aslaug's Cafe.

Stillclaw picked up a newspaper that had been discarded and opened it, casually leaning against a nearby lamp post while keeping an eye on the three men. As one of the men knocked on the back door of Aslaug's Cafe, Stillclaw felt something hit him in his right calf.

Glancing down, he saw that it was a little doll carved from wood. _Little kid must have dropped it_, he thought, turning back to his newspaper and the three men, instantly forgetting about it as the kid wouldn't even see him, despite the fact that the doll was literally right behind him.

The back door to the Cafe opened and a tall, platinum blonde of a female stepped out and began quietly conversing with the men. Silently and imperceptibly moving a few feet closer, he managed to catch bits of conversation and quickly deduced that they were simply merchants or trades people and that they were regular suppliers to the Cafe.

He frowned, though. He had sensed that something was off about the men. _What is it? Could I be imagining things?_

A little more talk and the platinum blonde turned and motioned for someone to come. She then turned to the men and handed them some money just as two young men came out of the Cafe and began heaving the new supplies into the Cafe.

The three men nodded and, hopping back on their horses, turned and rode straight past Stillclaw, saying something about finding a hotel and 'preferably one different to the usual one' that they apparently went to.

He mentally shrugged, silently watching them until they disappeared from view into the crowd.

_Maybe they are alright_.

Though, he wasn't about to let his guard down.

Hearing a bell jingle, he turned and saw someone exiting Aslaug's Cafe from the front entrance. It wasn't the person that exited that now held his attention – it was the evocative concoctions that were wafting out from the Cafe as food was served, drinks poured, and divinity created.

Quickly striding over to the Cafe, Stillclaw decided that he had time to grab a quick bite to eat before he would go to the dock and sneak aboard a ship to head back to Malaysia.

* * *

_**That night...**_

The three men that made the delivery to Aslaug's Cafe double-checked that there was nobody around, before making their way over to the secret meeting place. After waiting for a few minutes, a lone figure stepped out. They couldn't make out who it was because it was so dark. One of the trio gave a special whistle that was mimicking the sound of a specific bird. There was silence and then another whistle in response.

_It's our client_, the Whistler thought in relief. He went and stepped out. The client was silent for a moment, and then spoke.

"Do you have the supplies?" the client asked. The Whistler recognized the voice. _Yep. Definitely the client_.

He turned and motioned for the other two to step forward with the merchandise. "Of course we do, sir, of course we do..."

* * *

Stillclaw rested his head against a sack of grain and stared up at the ceiling of the ship's hold. After grabbing a bite to eat at the Cafe, Stillclaw had made his way down to the harbour and, after quietly listening in to everything and everyone around the harbour, he had quickly found a ship that was being loaded to go to Malaysia, and that being where he needed to go, he had snuck on board and hidden in the hold.

He had bought some food from the marketplaces in Arendelle before heading down to the harbour. He had brought along enough to keep him sustained for a little while, but also made sure that it was small enough to be hidden from the crew. The amount he had bought was actually rather meager, but he had undergone severe training of his mind and body so that he could last for weeks without eating and still be able to go into a severe battle and win it, too, if he had to.

As he closed his eyes, a fleeting image of his brother came to him and his throat tightened with guilt, but he quickly pushed it away and focused on getting some sleep.

* * *

_**The next day...**_

Elsa stifled a yawn as she headed for the marketplace to do some shopping. Suddenly, she felt a great weight jump onto her back and she let out a yelp, falling forward. She would have slammed into the ground if it wasn't for the fact that she managed to grab hold of a nearby food stand on time.

"That wake you up yet, sleepy head?" Ryder Nattura, Honeymaren's and Elsa's neighbour and friend, said as he climbed off of her back.

Dusting herself off, and ignoring the stares and disdainful shaking of the heads of other people, she turned and threw a playful swat at his head. He ducked and scoldingly wagged his finger at her.

"What are you up to?" she asked, unable to stop herself from grinning at his antics.

"It's Saturday," he said. "I'm going to go to the harbour and paint. The sky is just so perfect right now!"

Oh. _Saturday already? _Elsa shook her head when she realised that she had seriously lost track of the days. She tuned out as Ryder prattled on about the sky and the lighting and other technicalities that only artists could take notice off as they continued walking to the marketplace. They arrived and she was just about to tell Ryder if it was that good to go and paint before it was too late, when someone bumped into her.

She was just about to snap at the person for not paying attention, when she caught sight of who it was.

_Oh_.

Princess Anna.

"Oh! I-I am _so _sorry!" Anna profusely apologised, reaching out as if she was going to touch Elsa's shoulder in an apologetic way, but suddenly pausing and pulling away at the last second. "New shoes," she said with an awkward chuckle by way of explanation.

_So, you can spend your time trying out new shoes, while the rest of us struggle to pay the doctor to visit our sick relatives_, Elsa thought, subtly clenching her fist a little. _But I'm sure you could afford that several times over, as well_. But she hid it by giving the Princess an overly-exaggerated smile and bowed slightly, though every inch of her was screaming not to, and ignoring how depressed the princess seemed to be. _Not about this little accident, though, I'm sure_. "Don't apologise, Your Highness. It was just an accident," Elsa said, surreptitiously gritting her teeth to try and keep the snark remarks from rolling off of her tongue.

The princess smiled, looking very relieved at her words. _Like you snobbish bunch care what we think_, Elsa thought. "I'd like to make it up to you," Anna said suddenly. Elsa was taken back, and blinked in surprise.

"No, thank you," she politely declined, pushing her surprise away very quickly.

"No, I insist. Were you going to get something here?" and she motioned around at the marketplace. "I'll give you the money for it, if you like."

Though Anna meant it well and was just trying to be a good neighbour, that last comment _really _caused Elsa's blood to boil, and she drew herself up to her full height, giving the princess a cold look. "Which I'm sure you could afford to do quite easily," she said, ice lacing her every word.

The words seemed to sting Anna, and she even stepped back slightly, looking hurt. "I-I'm sorry, I'll...be going now," and she turned and walked away, this time though with her head down, somehow looking more..._rejected_ was the only word Elsa could think of to describe the way she looked than before.

"There was no cause to be so rude," Ryder scolded, whispering furiously in her ear. "She seemed nice and she looked like she genuinely wanted to _help!_"

"They all _seem _'nice', but none of them seem very eager to get rid of You-Know-What, do they?" she whispered back, whirling around to face him. He knew exactly what 'You-Know-What' was referring to, and he also knew exactly why she felt so vehemently about it, too.

"Oh. Oh, I see. So, you are judging _fifteen-year-olds _now for not getting rid of that law, are you?" he asked. She glared at him. His words were quite harsh. _How dare he? Has he even taken notice of what the royal family has done to my kind?_

"That's a completely unfair twisting of the truth," she stated quite strongly. "I'm just putting blame where blame is due. Now, excuse me," and she turned and stormed away.

* * *

_**Well, I hope you enjoyed that. I **_**had ****_planned to do some more scenes in this chapter, but I figured that it might be better to do it in the next chapter. Hope you are enjoying the story, and thank you to all the readers, reviewers, followers, and favouriters (is that even a word, LOL!)_**

_**Have a great day/night!**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favourited, and followed this story! You hear this alot, but I really appreciate it!**_

_**your brother**__**: First off, thank you so much for your kind words - I'm glad that you are enjoying it so far! And with regards to your query, sorry, I forgot to mention that in the chapter. Malaysia is Stillclaw's home and now that he's completed his mission (in fact, whenever he completes a mission) he always heads back home to Malaysia at the first available time. I'm sorry that I forgot to mention that. I'll make sure that that is mentioned at the next possible time in the story.**_

_**I am also going to bring Jetstream's OC Jyoti into the story in this chapter. Thank you, Jet, for allowing me to borrow your character.**_

_**On with the story!**_

* * *

Anna sniffled and hugged herself as she exited the market and made her way down to...she didn't know where she was going. Just so long as it was away from the castle and that...that _rude _and, and _disrespectful _woman!

How _dare _she talk like that? _I was just trying to help! Why don't people understand that about me?_

"Are you okay?" a voice said behind her.

Anna turned and saw a young man with orange hair and sideburns give her a welcoming albeit concerned smile. He was dressed in royal attire, though she didn't notice as she was being swept away by this man's dreamy green eyes.

"Do you need assistance?" he asked and she suddenly realized that she was drooling a little at the mouth and had been staring at this man for a few minutes now.

_Oh, lord almighty_.

"Oh, uh...yes! I mean, no! No, of course not. I was just out for a stroll and was totally not staring and uh..." _Shut your trap! _The man, to his credit, simply chuckled and didn't say a word the whole time. Anna coughed awkwardly and straightened, taking a deep breath. "I'm very sorry for disturbing your morning and will be on my way." She turned, putting one of her hands up to the side of her face to hide it, muttering to herself _You are _SUCH _an idiot!_

"Wait!" the man called out. She stopped and turned around, wondering what on earth this man would want with her, especially after her creepy admiration thing earlier. He had taken half a step forward before she turned around and stopped as soon as she did, lowering his arm. He stared at her with open curiosity for a moment before saying, "What's your name?"

Anna was so surprised at his question, that she gaped at him for a full minute, before her mind returned to earth. "Anna. Princess Anna," she replied, her face burning crimson once again at her unintentional blundering reaction. The word _Princess_, though, came out as a heavy sigh. The man must have noticed that because his expression that had at first expressed bewilderment at her being a princess instantly softened as he presumably heard her tone.

"Wanna' talk about it?" he asked softly, actually sounding like he understood what she was feeling. She then took in the fact that the man was wearing royal attire.

"Who are you?" she asked.

He bowed. "Prince Hans of the Southern Isles," he introduced himself. _Oh my gosh! That means that he is King Mathias' son! Why didn't he with his father yesterday in our palace? _Now practically an raging inferno of mortification about earlier, she hastily bowed, but tripped. Thankfully, he reached out and caught her and for a moment all she could was stare at him and wonder once again how his eyes got so dreamy.

"I'm serious," he said, straightening her upright before letting go, much to Anna's disappointment. "If you want to talk about it, I'm here. I know how stressful royal life can be. It's like you're drowning in a black hole; you are defined by your status instead of who you really are."

She stared at him for a moment. _He really does understand_, she thought. Anna smiled, nodding, thankful that there was actually someone out there who was willing to listen; who wasn't going to chastise her at every turn for not living up to some ancient decorum. "Thank you, that'll be lovely," she agreed.

* * *

Shopping basket full of bread and fruit, Elsa left to look at medicine, having cooled down slightly over her earlier argument with Ryder. She was still hurt at his accusation, but she refused to dwell on it any longer and just focus on what she came here to do.

She and Honeymaren, with their combined pay they received from working at Aslaug's Cafe, were finally able to spare some money to afford a doctor's visit a week ago. Right after checking her out, the doctor had immediately prescribed some medicines that the mother was meant to take daily, and had graciously given them the first lot of medicine free of charge, which had now run out, so Elsa was going to get some more.

As she entered the Clinic and picked the items off the shelf, Elsa sent a quick prayer up for her sister Honeymaren for dropping out of school to get a job. Obviously, Elsa would have liked her to continue getting an education - and still did - but right now she was so thankful that she had as they could now afford to get proper treatment for their mother's condition.

The lady at the counter smiled sweetly at her as she opened the Clinic's ledger. "Name?" she inquired.

"Elsa Árnadalr," Elsa responded. The lady nodded and quickly wrote her name down at the top of an empty column in neat cursive writing. Elsa spied other names at the top of other columns to the left of her column with the names of products and prices. Elsa reached into her basket and handed the medical items to the lady and the lady looked at each other, carefully writing down the products names and their respective prices, before quickly adding up the total and writing it down before finally looking back up at Elsa.

"That'll be two carnolgies, please," she requested. Elsa nodded and, sliding her little money pouch off of her wrist, she reached inside and pulled out the correct change and gave it to the lady. The lady took it with a nod and a polite smile and Elsa put the medicinal items back into her basket and headed out the door.

Exiting the Clinic, Elsa paused on the Clinic's front porch to quickly put her money pouch into her shopping basket as she realized that it would simply be easier to carry it in there than being tied to her wrist. She was just finishing when she heard some urgent shouts to her right, growing louder by the second, indicating that whoever was shouting was getting closer. She stood stock still, trying to make out what was being said. "Hey! Stop you thief!" was what she heard.

Recognizing the voice as Mr Aksel's, the owner of the fruit stand in the marketplace, Elsa began heading in the direction of his voice, planning on settling whatever tussle was going on. As she drew closer, she found herself knocked to the floor, all the food and medicine she had bought thrown across the street, as well as her basket and money pouch.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," someone apologised, helping her up.

"That's alright," Elsa said, brushing herself down. Getting a look at the person who had bumped her, she saw that the person was a female of fairly average height of about five and a half feet, with her hair being cut short to jsut below her ears, and she had light brown skin and light brown eyes that for some reason kept darting around the place. _Why is she so paranoid? _"Hey, you okay?" Elsa asked, taking note of the fact that this woman had a couple apples and two bananas in her arms.

Without answering, the female's eyes latched onto something and went wide and before Elsa knew it, she had taken off.

"Hey! Come back here!" Mr Aksel shouted, thundering past Elsa - and straight after the retreating form of that female. Elsa sighed and shook her head. _Another thief, another day at the market_. Very quickly picking up all her stuff, she paused.

_That's weird. Where's my money pouch?_

She turned and saw the female Mr Aksel was chasing dash around the corner - with what looked like a money pouch in her hand.

_She must have taken it when she knocked me down before 'helping' me up_, Elsa realized as she took off after the woman. _We need that money_. Subconsciously going faster at the thought of losing all of her's and Honeymaren's savings (as they desperately needed the money as their Landlord was going to be coming in a couple days and Elsa and Honeymaren wouldn't get paid again until the end of next week), Elsa soon saw the thief dart into an alleyway.

Knowing the layout of Arendelle off by heart, Elsa ran past Mr Aksel and the alleyway entrance the thief had ducked into and continued running for about ten more minutes until she turned a corner and reached the end of the alleyway labyrinth. Pressing her back against the brick wall by the exit, she waited until she heard running footsteps nearing the exit from inside the alleyway before putting her basket down and leaping forward in one motion and slamming into a running body, tackling the female to the ground.

A fist hit Elsa in the nose so hard that tears formed in her eyes. She then a leg cutting straight for her head and managed to block it just in time.

Grabbing her opponent's leg, Elsa used it to throw her opponent to the ground and slammed her knee into the other woman's solar plexus, causing her opponent to curl up in pain, gasping for air. Hearing panting behind her, Elsa turned and saw Mr Aksel just arriving, with one of the Arendellian police members behind him.

_Smart idea_.

After retrieving her money and Mr Aksel his fruit, the police guy hoisted the woman to her feet. It was then that Elsa, after picking up her basket again, got a real good look at her and saw that her cheeks were somewhat sunken and her eyes lit up with intense hunger when her eyes threw one last forlorn look at the fruit Mr Aksel had confiscated from her.

_Oh. That's why she stole the food and money - she must be starving and not have any means of buying any food_.

Looking over at Mr Aksel, Elsa could tell by the look on his face that he had seen the same things as she had. He stepped forward and held out the food to the female. She looked at him warily, before grabbing the food and desperately biting into the food. The woman's eyes briefly closed as she savoured the taste before quickly wolfing the rest of the apple down and starting on the other

"You're welcome," Mr Aksal smiled. "What's your name?"

She swallowed before answering. "Jyoti," she said. Elsa waited expectantly for her to give a surname, but this 'Jyoti' didn't.

"Well, Jyoti, when you come out of prison, I'd be happy to give you a job as my assistant at my fruit stand, if you'd like," Mr Aksal offered.

Jyoti stared at him as she ate the rest of the fruit, throwing aside the banana peels without a glance. "Why?" she asked.

"Well, you look like you need a place to stay and money. I'll pay you a fair wage."

"Just to be clear, I'm not planning on staying here permanently," Jyoti stated.

Mr Aksal nodded. "Fair enough. You can stay until you have enough money to go wherever it is that you want to go. Deal?" and he held out his hand.

She seemed to consider it for a moment before accepting his hand. "Deal."

* * *

_**C**__**arnolgies is the name of Arendelle's money currency (which I made up, BTW).  
**_

_**So, I know that this isn't my best chapter, and I'm sorry about that. I hope that the way I introduced Jyoti was fine and everything was at least okay. Thank you for reading. Until next time!**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**High King Peter the Magnificen**__**: Thank you! That's a relief!**_

_**Guest**__**: Haha, yours is my favourite review so far!**_

* * *

Anna threw back her head and laughed as she and Hans walked along arm-in-arm. "That's _sooo _good," she chortled, wiping tears from her eyes. People looked at them curiously, but once they recognized who they were, they quickly bowed in greeting. Anna sighed and hung her head. _I wish that they wouldn't do that_.

"What's the matter?" Hans asked, causing her to raise her head and look to him, feeling embarrassed. But he looked genuinely concerned. With his thumb, he reached up and brushed the tears away, causing Anna to forget how to breath. Then his thumb dropped and air came rushing back to her.

"Uh..." _what were we talking about? _"Sorry, what?"

He bursts out laughing, raising an eyebrow as he does, causing her to blush furiously. "What's the matter with you?" Anna asked defensively, repeating his earlier question.

He bursts out into an even louder fit of laughter, this time clutching his sides. "Your...face...!" he says, gasping for air.

She pouted, crossing her arms across her chest. "So, why didn't I see you with his Majesty, King Mathias, when he came to the castle yesterday?" Anna asked, deciding it best to change the subject.

Hans calmed down instantly at the mention of that. "Well, because I'm not here on official business like he is. I came here for a holiday, sightseeing, nothing else," Hans explained.

Anna cocked her head. "I bet that made him mad," she chuckled.

Hans shrugged. "A little, but after I pointed out that being the youngest of thirteen meant that it is _very _unlikely that I would ever inherit the throne and therefore didn't need to learn all the rudimentary elements of being King, he _grudgingly_ conceded and, well, here I am."

Anna's mouth dropped open at the mention of the big family he came from. She _had _heard something about the Southern Isle Royals being extremely fertile, but didn't know that it was _that _much. "So...where did you stay the night?" she asked, recalling that she saw no-one that looked like him at supper last night.

He shrugged. "At an inn. I must confess, while I find royal life tedious, I do enjoy the benefits that the subjects give - like a nice, soft bed," and he sighed happily at that. She smiled slightly.

"At their own expense," she pointed out.

Hans' eyes turned sad and sympathetic at her questions. "True. If I was to somehow become King of the Southern Isles, I would change that, too. Make sure everyone had enough," he said, looking around at everyone like a man inspired to do good.

Anna grinned. "So do I," she remarked, also looking around - but also discreetly looking at him. "That's the _one _benefit of having to endure all this Queenly training - getting to make a change like that in people's lives."

"But...what about all those _handsome _suitors?" Hans said dramatically, mock swooning and wiggling his eyebrows mischievously. Anna laughed, slugging him in the shoulder, knowing that he was only teasing.

"Looks aren't important when it comes to love! Well...yes, they are important. I mean, who doesn't want..." blushing when she realized that she was rambling, she coughed and continued, absolutely ignoring Hans ever-so-smug grin. "Looks are secondary, like a bonus. When I marry, I ultimately want someone with a good heart and character, who is also handsome, and...someone who would understand...me." She said the last part rather tentatively, as she was thinking of _him _as she said it.

Hans looked at her for a moment, deep in thought, then smiled. "Me, too," he said. Anna's heart did a leap at that as she looked at him shyly. _Huh_. "Let's go drop in and give my father a surprise, eh?" Hans suggested.

Anna giggled. He was a hard one to say no to, she noticed. "Sure."

* * *

The person quickly checked the supplies that the other person had delivered to him from the three "merchants" that were making deliveries to Arendelle and other cities. He had seen them stop off at Aslaug's Cafe first, before making a few more deliveries, before coming to their client - his delivery man.

_Good. It's all here_.

He reached into one of the boxes and pulled out some of the ingredients before putting it on a nearby table and started cutting them up.

_This is going to be just what everyone needs_.

* * *

_**That night...**_

Anna cut up her steak as she listened to Runeard and Mathias laughing and joking amongst themselves. Their trades discussion seemed to be all sorted. She couldn't help but wonder when Mathias would leave. She then glanced across the table at Hans, who happened to look up from his food at that moment and their eyes met.

He smiled at her and she ducked her head. She wondered if Hans would go back at the same time as Mathias. If that was true, then she didn't want Mathias to leave just yet.

Eating her dinner, she listened to Runeard's and Mathias' discussion out of boredom.

"I'm glad that we could reach such an agreement about the trading," Runeard remarked, motioning a servant over for more wine.

"Yes, it will greatly benefit both of our people," Mathias remarked.

"The people, Father?" Hans said suddenly. "Or just yourselves?"

The room fell deathly silent as all eyes - including Anna's - turned to the young prince. "The people, of course," Mathias replied, though his voice was uncertain as he tried to figure out his son's outburst. "These new trades will bring in new material, new prices. Combine the kingdoms even further."

"And whom does this further combined kingdom benefit? Surely not the people - as Arendelle's poor and grossly neglected part of the population are about just as badly off as ours - actually, I think even more so. Why combine the lot when it creates even more urchins to get under both your skins?" Hans asked. Anna looked at him, shocked. _Mathias? I've heard that he's one of the best rulers around! _Though, she sensed that it would be better to keep her mouth shut. "After all, I did hear you once say to Mother, Father, that they were just cluttering up space. Is that why you're starving them? To get rid of them?"

Mathias' face was dark. "You know perfectly well that I was talking about the Elementals. They are just a nuisance, and a danger to everyone. It's a safe and clean way of getting rid of them," he replied.

"Ah, so killing others just because you don't like them is okay? I thought in the law, that counts as murder," Hans remarked, staring back at his father coldly.

"It's not because I don't 'like' them," Mathias snapped. "A _good _ruler doesn't allow his kingdom to be put into any danger."

"How are they a danger? Have they tried to assassinate you? Or Mother? Have they tried to overthrow our kingdom? Have they murdered others?"

"One fried a group of people with lightning," Anna replied. Mathias nodded.

"And others have _killed _some of our guards," Mathias pointed out.

"You are both conveniently leaving out that they did out of self-defense because your guards suddenly attacked them just for being different, not because they had actually done anything!" Hans said, his voice getting louder and more heated by the second.

"My guards wouldn't attack unless they had a bloody good reason to!" Mathias shouted, slamming his fist into the table.

This was getting out of hand. "Not all are dangerous," Anna pointed out. "But some who are, who do actually pose a threat to the kingdom and others. And they need to be gotten rid of."

Hans nodded. "Totally agree."

"_Good_," Runeard said, and he furiously attacked his steak.

"So, why should that allow us to kill the good ones?" Hans asked.

Anna gulped. _Oh, boy_, she thought as Runeard's eyes cut to Hans. "When you have powers like they do, it eventually goes to your head one way or the other, whether you are usually that type of person or not. It makes you think of yourself as higher than others, and you start to do terrible, horrible things. It happens eventually, so by getting rid of them now, we are preventing this and keeping the kingdom safe from the eventual atrocities that they'd commit," he said, his voice dark and Anna thought that she detected a threat veiled in there. "Understand?"

Hans was silent, though Anna sensed that he had a retort, and Runeard broke eye contact to drink his wine. Anna watched her grandfather, finding herself thinking about what he said. She wasn't really sure anymore what side she was on anymore. _Grandfather does have a point_, she thought. _But so does Hans_.

CRASH!

Anna jumped. "GRANDFATHER!" she screamed, pushing her chair back, and rushing over to her grandfather.

Who was withering around on the floor, blood frothing at his mouth.

* * *

_**There will be a bit of a time skip in the story before the start of the next chapter.**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**First off: I am so sorry that I haven't updated in ages! That was completely unintentional - other stories that badly needed my attention, trying to figure out exactly how I wanted to play this chapter (as it's a crucial one), and getting caught up in the every day-to-day.**_

_**Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favourited, and followed this story! I appreciate it!**_

_**Your Brother:**__** Thank you, I'm glad to see that you are interested! It means that I am succeeding (at least partially) with my story! You'll know all you need to know as - and if - the need arises.**_

_**High King Peter the Magnificen:**__** THANK YOU! I was really worried about including that argument as I wasn't sure how to write it. I'm so glad to hear that I did an excellent job!**_

_**A/N:**__** It has been mentioned in the past that my story is similar to X-Men, and I have stated that the similarities are completely unintentional as I have never read or seen anything to do with X-Men. But, I now have watched some of the X-Men movies, and would like to state once again that I was not intentionally getting ideas off of X-Men, and will still strive to keep my story as original and uninfluenced by X-Men as possible.**_

_**EDIT: Peter has kindly pointed out a huge time muddle in this story, so I've gone and corrected it, putting the scenes where they should be.**_

_**On with the story!**_

* * *

_**Two days later...**_

One of three men that Stillclaw had followed from Oaken's Trading Post to Aslaug's Cafe looked around before ducking into the alley and pushing open a back door. Quickly stepping inside, he shut the door and turned around.

"Who's there?" a voice called out. It was the same client - the one that they had secretly delivered to their first night in Arendelle.

"Jamieson," he replied, ignoring the faint giggling coming out of the room that the client's voice was coming from as well.

There was some movement heard from inside the room and their client stepped out, hair all ruffled and throwing a shirt over his bare top. _Huh_. "Sorry, I thought you were expecting me," Jamieson said curtly, disgust evident in his voice at the client telling him to come at this time and then not even bothering to wait until their meeting was over to do what he was doing in there.

"I have been," the client replied simply then gave him a bored look. "Here's you pay." And the client through him a brown money pouch and Jamieson hid it in his cloak. The client drew closer to talk out of earshot of the person in the other room and whispered: "According to our man inside, it worked."

"Runeard's dead?"

The client nodded, glancing back behind him. The person was calling for him. "Be right there! Just seeing this gentleman out," he called back and turned back to a smirking Jamieson, letting out a sigh. "Yes, he's been dealt with. And so will his wife, which they will mistake as dying from grief."

Jamieson nodded slowly. "And what about the Princess?"

The client smiled. "She's going to be coronated in four months."

Jamieson breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Then, our plan's working perfectly."

* * *

_**Three months later...**_

Stumbling down the hall in a daze, Anna stared numbly ahead, not even noticing the fact that she kept tripping over her own feet. She wasn't even aware of the servants that passed by...who all stopped, looking at her with severe concern.

All she could see - all she could focus on - was her grandparent's faces as the coffin lids were lowered over them.

Their private doctor's words kept haunting her every thought.

_**His Majesty's been poisoned. Lethally, I'm afraid...**_

Something felt like it was trying to _claw _it's way out of her chest.

The _padre_'s words as her grandmother's coffin was lowered into the ground's waiting embrace echoed around in her mind, refusing to let her go.

_**Her Majesty, Queen Rita, will forever be remembered with fondness and kindness; as a woman who was every bit an excellent ruler as her late husband**_

_Excellent ruler, indeed! Grandfather was horrible!_

_**Her Majesty, sadly, died of a broken heart just three months after her husband's death**_

Whatever was inside of her chest broke free of its chains and a loud, raw, vulnerable scream rattled through the entire castle as Anna collapsed to the ground, her body shaking and withering as her grief continued to hit her with pounding tsunami after pounding tsunami.

Words. Sentences. Bits of conversation that she had heard, that had been said to her but she hadn't really paid any attention to, came back to her, floating through her mind like broken chains flinging through the air.

_**I'm so sorry for your loss, Your Highness**_

_**Arendelle has lost two rulers! That's preposterous! How could anyone let such a thing like this happen? It puts us all in danger!**_

_**You'll have to be the new monarch, Your Highness**_

_**I know it's a lot...but your grandparents unfortunately left us with the tensions that have been running high with Corona and France and we are quite possible looking at a war breaking out with both countries. We need someone to lead us; a ruler and...that's you**_

Someone touched her shoulder.

Arms wrapped around her; drew her onto someone's lap and shifted around so that whoever was embracing her was sitting with their back against the wall.

She didn't care who it was. Her hands clutched the fabric the person was wearing as she buried her face into the person's shirt to try and - unsuccessfully - stifle her sobs.

A hand gently rubbed her back in a circular motion. "I'm here, Anna," a voice whispered. _Hans_, she realized, mentally latching onto his voice as if it was the only thing keeping her afloat.

And, quite frankly, at this point, it probably was.

"Don't leave," she whispered, her voice filled with many crevices and holes.

His arms tightened around her. "Never," he whispered in her ear, resting his chin on her scalp.

As she slowly, _extremely _slowly, began to quieten down, her mind wandered back to her conversation she had a week ago with her grandmother.

The last she ever had with her.

_**Don't leave me, Grandmother! **_**Please**_**!**_

_**I'm sorry, my child. I'm sorry that I haven't been a better support to you after Runeard's and your parents' deaths.**_

Anna clung to Hans a little tighter.

_**But you have! And I need you - now, more than ever. If you go, I'll have to be ruler. And I'm not good enough! I don't remember **_**anything **_**about how to be Queen-**_

_**You will. Trust me, love, you definitely will.**_

_**But...what about the Elementals? I-I'm not sure what to do.**_

_Rita looked at her with eyes welling with emotion and fear of what was coming, and one of her hands reached up and cupped Anna's soaking wet cheek. __**Whatever you feel your heart tell you**__. She had then stared intently into Anna's eyes, so much so that Anna had to resist the urge to look away. __**Whatever your heart tells you to do**__._

"What am I going to do?" Anna said in the barest of whispers as she wiped her cheeks with the heel of her hand.

"That's why I'm here," Hans replied, causing Anna to sit up more to look at him. His eyes were ablaze with a storm and his face was wet with tears as he stared back. "To help you through this."

Anna's eyes filled with fresh tears - but ones of enormous gratitude and surprised at his action of kindness. "Thank you," she whispered, choking on her churning thoughts and emotions as she spoke.

His fingers grazed her cheeks and then cupped her face as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead. She leaned into it before he pulled away and rested his forehead against hers, still holding her face in his hands. "I'm always here," he whispered. "Always."


	8. Chapter 8

_**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story! I really appreciate it! And a special thank you to High King Peter the Magnificen and the two Guests for their reviews for the latest chapter! Now to answer some of the reviews:**_

_**Guest**__**: Great question! He's...important.**_

_**Your Brother**__**: Now THAT'S a great question, isn't it? ;)**_

_**EDIT: High King Peter the Magnificen has pointed out a big time muddle I've had in the story, so I've gone back and corrected it, putting the scenes in their correct place. If there's still any time muddles in it, please let me know as soon as possible!  
**_

_**On with the story!**_

* * *

_**Some time later...**_

Jyoti handed her customer - an old lady wearing a woolen shawl and sporting a walking cane - some apples and the old lady handed her the appropriate amount of coins. "Thank you," Jyoti said. The old lady nodded - she couldn't speak - and turned and shuffled on her way.

"Here you are," and she handed the money to Mr Aksel, the man whom she had stolen fruit from a few months ago. He accepted it and was about to say something when he spotted a friend of his and left to have a quick chat, trusting her to watch things while he was gone for a little while. And he was well to put his trust in her. She knew what to do.

She had spent two nights in prison before being released and being sent to work at Mr Aksel until she saved enough money to continue on her way.

Wherever 'her way' was.

But she couldn't stay here - certain laws in this kingdom made that clear. Which were the same bloody reasons why she had left her country.

"May I have some bananas, please?"

_That voice is familiar..._Jyoti turned around and was surprised to see that platinum blonde ice dudette standing there, all poise and grace. But old suspicions flamed inside her eyes as soon as Blondie recognized her. Suspicions that Blondie insisted on having after Jyoti had started working for Mr Aksel. "How many..._Elsa_, right?" Jyoti responded, moving over to the part of Mr Aksel's stand where the bananas were sitting.

"Ten, please. Oh, and the same number for oranges and apples, too, please," Blondie responded. "And yes," she added after a pause. "That's my name." Elsa said it quietly, almost like she was trying to make sure Jyoti didn't hear. _Or maybe she's still trying to figure me out_, Jyoti mentally shrugged, personally not bothered. Jyoti caught Elsa glancing at her several times as Jyoti prepared her order.

She wasn't the only one.

Jyoti kept glancing over at Blondie. Jyoti kept sensing something. It was something that she could only with her specific sixth sense.

_Magic_.

_Is she a magician? Or born with her magic?_

She had forgotten the fancy name the 'Normal' people gave to those born with powers, but whatever the ones with powers were called, they were killed on sight if somebody guessed that they were magical. _Humans never change. Always scared of something different to what they think is 'normal'_. Jyoti wanted to ask if Elsa had powers, but she didn't want to get her in any trouble. Especially since she heard that her and her family were struggling.

"Hey," Jyoti said as she started on the apples, "what's that I heard about your family?" Elsa tensed slightly, but Jyoti didn't really notice. "Something about one of your family member's being sick or something?" And she handed Elsa her order.

Elsa's eyes were alight with many raging emotions. Anger being the prominent one. _Anger at me? Or from emotional stress and all that stuff? _Elsa grabbed, or more accurately, snatched the food off of Jyoti. "Yes," Elsa said tersely. "My mother."

_Ah_. Jyoti didn't really know what to say. She hadn't grown up with a mother, so the whole intimate-family-bond thing was all strange to her. She stood there awkwardly for a second, trying to figure out what to say, if anything, then finally settled on one, though in retrospect, she shouldn't have asked. "How long is she expected to live?"

Elsa's eyes really flared up. "Since you are _so _fond of asking such direct questions," Elsa said, leaning forward, resting her forearms on top of the stall, "Let me ask you one: Just what the hell are you doing here?"

"Getting enough money to be able to go on my way," Jyoti shrugged.

"And your way is...?"

"My elderly uncle is sick. He lives in the top end of Norway. I'm going to see him again once I have enough money to pay for travels." Not true, but what Elsa didn't know wouldn't hurt her, right?

Elsa studied her for a moment. "How did you make it to Arendelle? Where you from?"

"I'm from India. I was traveling with a merchant group, but they were attacked in Sweden." Jyoti paused for affect, dropping her eyes with a faint sigh. "They were all massacred. I managed to hide from them and then make my way over here, starving and penniless, as you remember." She paused as if reflecting on that 'terrible' day and then shrugged, bringing her eyes up to a much less suspicious, but still not totally trusting yet Elsa who was looking at her with a great deal of compassion, but Jyoti sensed that she didn't know whether to believe her or not.

"I'm sorry," Elsa said softly. "I had no idea." Jyoti shrugged at the last comment. Elsa reached into her money bag and paid for her food. Even offered Jyoti a small smile. _Hmmm. Does she believe me or is she just pretending? _"Have a nice day, Jyoti."

* * *

Stillclaw sent the two drunks stuck in the Tavern's doorway tumbling backwards, crashing into a table. He simply strode straight past them, ignoring all the surprised stares that he received because of his entrance, and went straight over to the counter where the bartender looked him over warily, but with a great deal of fearful respect. "What can I get ye', mister?" the bartender asked.

Stillclaw slapped some money down. "Just a glass of beer," he ordered, making sure to make his voice sound weary like he had been traveling a great deal that day for cover.

The bartender nodded and went to get his drink. Stillclaw surreptitiously kept sweeping the Tavern. There were drunks everywhere, some still in control of their senses, some in a stupor and some just plain dead drunk. There were also plenty of females there of..._certain _repute who kept trying to get his attention, but he ignored them. He needed to be alert and undistracted at all times. As an assassin, he couldn't have one-night stands turning into something more or the girl becoming pregnant. It was, frankly, putting him and everyone else - plus his whole job - at risk, something he wasn't willing to do.

The bartender handed him the drink and Stillclaw took it. As he took a swig, he then noticed a drunken man snoring with an open newspaper spread across his face. Something in the headlines caught his eye and he went over and, taking the newspaper, quickly scanned its contents.

**ARENDELLE'S RULERS BOTH DEAD**

_**Princess Anna going to be coronated in a month**_

He read the rest of the article in silence. _Interesting. Who murdered Runeard? _He saw that the article claimed that Rita died of a broken heart, but the assassin him sent up warning bells. _Maybe the article's true?_

But then he read further onto other articles and saw continued reports of the really high strain between Corona and France right now.

He raised a mental eyebrow.

_Arendelle is in deep shit with Corona and France_

_Then, Arendelle's king is poisoned, and then his queen dies shortly afterwards from a broken heart_

_Result? Arendelle is left to be ruled by a fifteen-naive-looking-year-old girl, leaving the place extremely vulnerable_

_Can't be a coincidence._

He folded up the newspaper, intending to take it with him. Putting the beer in the sleeping drunk's hand, Stillclaw then left the Tavern. He was in a coastal town in Malaysia. He just needed to head inland to the Gunung Nuang moutain ranges where he lived in between missions with the rest of his syndicates.

He thought that the others in his tribe would have some insights on these _interesting_ turn of events.


	9. Chapter 9

_**I'm so sorry for the belated reply. My life has been a bit occupied and I've been distracted by a lot of other things. Plus, I felt a little lazy about coming back to this story. I am so, so sorry. So, here's the next chapter! (And I've corrected a time muddle that was in the previous two chapters, BTW)**_

* * *

_**Arendelle**_

After finishing off the rest of her shopping, Elsa began making her way out of the market. As she adjusted the basket hanging off of her arm, she threw one last look towards Mr Aksel's stand.

More specifically Jyoti.

_Who is she? _**What **_exactly is she?_

Because Elsa sensed magic coming off of her.

Which was why she didn't buy Jyoti's story.

_She really needs to learn to be a better liar_.

"WATCH IT!" a deep voice grumbled. Elsa nearly jumped as she realized that she had bumped into a large, hairy man who smelt like he hadn't had a bath in ages.

"Sorry," she said as she made her way around him and continued on her way. As she continued home, she looked around at everyone, sighing to herself she wished that things could be normal. Wishing that her father hadn't left them in so much debt; that her mother wasn't sick and landing them _further _in debt-

_No. I shouldn't think of Mother's sickness that way_.

A hand roughly grabbed her shirt's collar and yanked her to the side.

Her fist lashed out at the person's jaw.

Funnily enough she couldn't move her hands, though they weren't bound nor were not being held.

She was shoved roughly into an alleyway.

Landing on the ground heavily, she pushed herself to her feet, clenching her fists to hide the light blue glow that was starting to show from the palms of her hands.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" the person said and Elsa realized that it was _two _people that had grabbed her - an older man and a young female. Elsa knew that she should avoid using her powers at all, but right then she didn't really care.

She be damned if she was going to let them rape her.

"Just let us talk!" the young lady said, shooting out her hand. Elsa went to duck, but found herself frozen in place, not in ice, but by some invisible force.

_What?_

She was able to move her eyes to look at both of them, finally sensing from them what she had been too worked up to notice.

Magic.

_They're Elementals_.

* * *

_**Sorry that this is so short - things are kinda busy over here at my end, so I wanted to get this out as soon as I could.**_

_**Hope you enjoyed this. Until next time.**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Thank you to everyone for your reviews!**_

* * *

The young woman who had frozen Elsa in place glanced to her partner as she saw understanding creeping into the platinum blonde's face.

Pure shock.

She nodded slowly at the unspoken statement that they indeed were what the blonde had just realised they were. "Like you," she said in a low voice, just loud enough for the platinum blonde to hear.

"Why didn't you simply come up and talk?" Elsa said with noticeable anger at the way they introduced their presence, but also a small level of sympathy over their shared affliction.

"We could have," the man - Elliot - said, cocking his head as he scrutinised Elsa. The woman who had frozen Elsa in place - Mary - just rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what he wanted. _Guys are just dumb apes_, she thought before turning back to Elsa with an apologetic smile.

"We branded," she said and Elsa's eyes widened. _Branded _meant that they were known Elementals being hunted by the law. "We couldn't afford chit-chat, we needed to get you here so that we could talk."

"No."

Mary and Elliot looked at each other and then back at Elsa at the same time. "Huh?" Mary said. "No to what?"

"I don't know what you guys want with me, but I want _none _of it, do you hear me?" Elsa said, her eyes alight with a fire that would cause anyone - even the toughest of villains - to start quaking in their boots. "I am _not _going to get my family and I killed from being associated with you guys. Sorry, but that's it."

Elliot's face darkened and before Mary could stop him, he had grabbed Elsa around the neck. "You little _bastar_-"

He was suddenly cut off when he was flung backwards a few feet and landed in a heap next to Mary. She glared at him before lowering her hand, still entrapping Elliot in an invisible frozen bubble.

"Yes, I can control movement," she said, turning to Elsa. "I can also freeze any and all movements so long as my focus is on the subject or subjects, but I can only last three hours before I get a headache and have to stop, so I don't use it much. Which is why our pursuers aren't still frozen in place like they were when we escaped them. Anyway, what we want is-"

"Get. The. _Fuck_. Away. From. Me. _Okay_?" Elsa growled, anger flaring in her eyes as they moved between Mary and Elliot - her eyes being the only part of her body that she _could _move at the moment. Mary would let her go, but knew that Elsa would try and run and they needed her to listen at _least _before allowing her to move again.

It was too important.

But they also needed her trust.

"Listen, I'm sorry, but we _need _your ice for something. We can't have you running off."

"Well, if you didn't want me to run off, then you two shouldn't have yanked me out here like you were going to rape me and _he _shouldn't have tried to choke me," Elsa pointed out. _Okay, that's fair_. "I'm sorry, but I'm not helping you."

Mary studied her for a minute, seeing that Elsa wasn't going to listen. With a nod, she flicked her wrist and Elsa stumbled forward, caught off guard at suddenly being able to move again. But Mary didn't let Elliot move. Not until Elsa was gone. Elsa panted, glaring at the two of them before going to pick up her shopping. Once she had picked it up, Elsa went to storm past them, but Mary lashed out and grabbed her arm. "Take a warning?"

Elsa jerked her arm free. "Stay away from asses like you?" she snapped snarkily.

Mary sneered. "A flood is coming. If you're not careful, your family is going to die."

Elsa peered at her for a moment before crossing her arms. "And how do you know this?" she asked, not in a 'this is utterly ridiculous' way but in a 'I need to make sure that this is one hundred percent reliable' way, though she noticed a fear buried deep in her eyes. A fear that everyone with loved ones had engraved into the them from the moment they took their first breath.

A fear of losing the ones they held most dear.

Mary looked around before settling her eyes back on Elsa's. "Trust me. Get your family out of here as soon as you can-"

"My mother is _bed-ridden!_"

"Then leave her! You and anyone else you love need to _leave_ Arendelle before it's too late. Elementals can't _hide _anymore, Elsa. It's grown out of control."

"I'm not leaving my mother! Besides, where are we going to go? _Nowhere _anywhere accepts people like us! We wouldn't be able to hide anywhere!"

Mary shrugged. "Figure it out, but don't take too long."

Elsa narrowed her eyes as she stared at Mary. Mary simply stared back. Elsa finally turned and left, a conflicted look on her face. Mary simply cocked an eyebrow and called out 'Good luck!'

_You're gonna' need it_.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing!**_

**3rdculturekid:**** Thanks! Yeah, Mary is cool :)**

**Your Brother (Guest):**** They didn't mean a literal flood - it was more metaphorical. And as to how they knew it was coming...well, obviously you need to keep reading to find out, don't you? ;)**

**I have also realised another slight contradiction I made when I corrected the time muddle that Peter had pointed out, so have gone and corrected that. It's nothing major, just a very small contradiction that doesn't affect anything done so far.**

**On with the story!**

* * *

She didn't notice the shouts.

She didn't notice the angry glares as she shoved her way through the crowds.

_**A flood is coming**_

_**Elementals can't **_**hide **_**anymore**_

_**If you're not careful, your family is going to die**_

_**Elementals can't **_**hide **_**anymore**_

_**Can't hide anymore**_

_**Anymore...**_

_**Anymore...**_

It was the sting as her face was slapped that brought her back to reality.

She blinked in shock as Ryder stared at her urgently, lowering his hand. "What?" was all she could think to say.

"Where have you been?" he said. "Honeymaren's been trying to find you!"

And with that, she was grabbed and dragged off urgently for the second time that day. "Wait, what? What's going on?" she asked, trying to pry herself free, though because of how she was still in shock from the encounter with Mary and what's-his-name, she wasn't putting up much of a struggle.

"The landlord's come early! And mother's become worse! Come on, we need you home!"

* * *

_**A few days later...**_

**Gunung Nuang mountain ranges**

Her keen eyes constantly roamed, never staying in one place, searching for anything, any sign of an intruder.

A rustling of leaves in the breeze.

Twittering of birds.

The pitter-patter of animal feet.

The creak of the tree branches.

She sighed and in the blink of an eye had unsheathed her dagger and sent it spinning at an angle to her left.

With a _thud! _it slammed into the trunk of a tree.

Skimming the man's cheek, leaving a very dull red line on his right cheek.

"You missed, Skotadi," the man said, stopping only to dislodge her dagger from the tree and send it spinning back to her. She caught it mid-spin without a scratch and without even looking, her eyes remaining fixed on the man.

"Hm," was all she said, sheathing the dagger.

He met her gaze evenly, even cocking his eyebrow. "You're skills are starting to slack."

"I was able to pinpoint where you were."

"Yet you still missed."

"You think I was actually trying to hit you? I hit _exactly _where I want to hit."

"Hm," the man said with a hint of skeptism in his otherwise emotionless voice. Her eyes were drawn to the tattoo of a red dragon on the side of his neck, the dragon's tail dropping down to his collarbone, which was semi-exposed with his partially unbuttoned shirt. In fact, she realised, other than his hooded cloak which he always seemed to be wearing, he wasn't wearing his usual attire, but clothes that seemed to blend in with the surrounding shubbery, cleverly designed to make the viewer quickly lose sight of him while he snuck up on them, them blissfully unaware that someone was there.

"You've got a new outfit," she remarked, cocking her head sideways, her dark blonde hair shifting as she tilted her head.

He simply shrugged and then walked straight past her, melting into the forest, heading for their tribe.

"See ya, Stillclaw," she said before turning and climbing into a tree perch.

* * *

**Southern Isles**_**  
**_

_**Night - about the same time as Stillclaw is heading for the tribe**_

Hans marched swiftly through the dark castle halls, the guard walking before him with a lit torch, lighting the way.

Descending down some staircases, the guard stopped infront of a metal door and inserted a key. There was a _click_ and the guard then pushed the door open, stepping to the side. Hans stepped through, entering the room. The guard then stepped outside, shutting the door behind him, leaving Hans in the room.

There were lanterns hanging on the walls, casting a haunting halo of light around the room, illuminating the desk with papers and the inkwell and pen.

The person hunched over the desk, looked up, the face half-obscured in darkness. Which was a relief to Hans as he shuddered at the half he _could _see.

"You?" the person said slowly, the voice sounding almost like it itself was slithering, trying to get a sense of its prey. "You disturb me?"

Hans' throat went clammy. "S-Slangemann-"

"You..." Slangemann said, slowly pushing the chair back and then leaning more comfortably in it, all the while Slangemann's eyes seemed to peer into Hans' soul. "You dare to come to me...after you gave me everything I wanted - solitude and peace..."

"T-they've sprung up again," Hans said. There was silence and Hans sensed that Slangemann was waiting for him to elaborate further. "The Elementals."

"So I foretold..." Slangemann said simply. "Yet, no-one listened, not even after the Battle of Uyghter."

Hans ignored Slangemann's gloating and got straight to the point. "The Elementals seem to be coming up more and more. We can no longer contain them. You're the one we need to be able to sniff out the Elementals and finally be rid of them once and for all."


	12. THIS IS NOT A CHAPTER!

**THIS IS _NOT _ANOTHER CHAPTER, JUST A VERY URGENT MESSAGE!**

**This is important, so please don't take down my story, FanFiction mods, as this is very important to say in it's own post and not as a simple Author's Note at the start or end of a chapter.**

**It has been brought to my attention that I have been making several grave mistakes in _Elementals - Frozen AU_ and I am so so so sorry for making those huge blunders. I've been really busy and stressed, so wasn't in my right mind when I posted those chapters with the huge mistakes.**

**I am so sorry for not focusing enough to realize I had made the mistakes and will make sure that any future chapter does not contradict anything that I have already written.**

**I have gone and corrected the mistakes, so feel free to go back and read the corrected version (and yes, this time it is the correct version).**

**Again, I am so sorry!**


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